Apropos of nothing, just a fun pic. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

The Rundown: Cubs Host Blue Jays, Ballesteros to Iowa, Trade Rumors Abound, League Proposes Massive Draft Overhaul

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 19, 2026

“We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Message of Love by Pretenders

Summerfest is happening up here in Milwaukee, and its a helluva break from Cubs baseball. I saw Garth Brooks the other night, and tonight I’m going to see Aldo Nova, Styx minus Dennis DeYoung, and The Family Stone, minus Sly, of course. I’m not sure how that’s going to be, as Sly was the band’s soul and really carried that ensemble. Then again, I’m seeing the Beach Boys in August minus everybody except Mike Love, who shouldn’t be allowed to tour attached to the Wilson brothers without said brothers. I have no love for Love, whose Hall of Fame induction speech is definitely one for the books.

Icons get old and sometimes bitter, just like many of us, and sometimes they pass. DeYoung is touring as a solo artist, and that can’t be fun, though he is playing some of the more popular Styx songs. Sly died in 2005. A moment of silence, please and thank you.

The Cubs are neither old nor dead, but they sure do play the part a little too often for my taste and perhaps it’s time to replace some of the regular cast. I’m side-eying Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, and Jameson Taillon, of course, and I’m putting Alex Bregman and Shōta Imanaga on notice. I never thought I’d reach a point in my fandom where Carson Kelly is my second-favorite player behind Pete Crow-Armstrong. Oh, for the days of Bill Buckner and Steve Swisher.

The Blue Jays are in town and I am reminded of the Heatwave Festival in 1980. Billed as the “New Wave Woodstock,” that one-day event took place at Mosport Park, a stone’s throw from Toronto. The lineup that afternoon and evening included Talking Heads, Pretenders, B-52s, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, The Kings, Rockpile featuring Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, plus the very underrated Teenage Head. The Clash was scheduled to headline, but they took a powder instead.

I drove up to that show as a 16-year-old — so thin my friends called me “Curtain Rod Canter” — and though I couldn’t sneak in as I intended, I immediately became a fan of Costello and the two Heads. In case you do not know me, I was already big into Chrissie Hynde and Pretenders. Much respect for Brass in Pocket and the magnificent guitar solo in Kid.

I did spend some time in Toronto proper, where there existed a plethora of wax museums, bakeries, and coffee shops. The Blue Jays were still in their infancy, and the Expos were still Canada’s go-to MLB team. The best part of my trip was visiting a bar in Buffalo called Club Exit, which had over 100 televisions, all playing music videos. This was about a year before MTV launched, mind you, and I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I made the round trip in a $100 beater I bought from an old man down the street from my home. The hand-painted baby blue 1971 Datsun 710 station wagon was my version of the family truckster, three years before Clark Griswold took his family to Wally World in his metallic peat hot rod. Damn, Eugene Levy is such a treasure.

I did get to see Niagara Falls, which was pretty cool. No, I did not go over the falls in a barrel, but that’s a nice metaphor for Chicago’s up-and-down 2026 season. I didn’t have a care in the world back in 1980, and the teenage version of myself should be the mold for the 62-year-old body that encases my Cubbie blue soul. We take this game too seriously at times. There is so much to see that doesn’t require a television, a computer, or a smartphone. The Cubs are not the end-all, be-all summer diversion that we make them out to be.

As frustrating as this team can be, at least it is not under the leadership of 1980’s Bob Kennedy, Preston Gómez, and Joey Amalfitano. I’m certainly no fan of Jed Hoyer, but I’d still take him over every top dog the Cubs have had in my lifetime except Theo Epstein and maybe Dallas Greene.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

Crow-Armstrong is doing that thing where he morphs into Willie Mays for an extended run of plate appearances.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

The league is proposing a massive draft overhaul — including the end of high school eligibility — in negotiations over the next CBA.

The plan is also intended to slash signing bonuses. The current agreement expires in 165 days.

The league is also eliminating the time clock for this year’s Home Run Derby.

Jacob Misiorowski became the best pitcher in baseball by eliminating bases on balls.

Tarik Skubal believes the Tigers must consider the option to trade him if the team can’t turn things around.

Skubal and Twins outfielder Byron Buxton are two of several players who could be dealt well ahead of the August 3 deadline. Freddy Peralta is also on that list, and I still believe he is coming to Chicago.

The Mets are more likely to stand pat, though Peralta and Brooks Raley are playing on expiring contracts.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. The ABS has a median margin of error of approximately 0.16 inches. If a pitch is deemed within the system’s margin of error but the ABS overturns the umpire’s ruling, the result is still binding.
  2. The gem that Misiorowski threw last Friday earned the fifth-highest one-hit game score (100) of all-time. Harvey Haddix (107) is the leader, and we all know that Kerry Wood (105) is number two. I still believe Wood was robbed of a no-hitter by the official scorer.
  3. The Dodgers have allowed just eight unearned runs this season. The Cubs have allowed 21, and the Pirates have allowed a league-high 49. It’s scary to think how good Pittsburgh could be with that rotation if their fielders could just catch and throw the ball with some sort of accuracy.

Apropos of Nothing

I always enjoy any opportunity to link to Wood’s historic outing against the Astros in 1998.

Son of Apropos

I did not know until yesterday that Hynde dropped an album of Bob Dylan covers back in 2021. Though credited as a solo album, all of the Pretenders collaborated. I may give that one a listen today.

Extra Innings

The Cubs may have a legitimate budding superstar in Josiah Hartshorn, and I love the Joey Votto comp. I think his swing reminds me of Bryce Harper. What say you?

They Said It

  • “We have a lot of really talented position players. There have been questions about our pitching depth that are fair. That’s something the injuries this year have certainly exposed. On the position-player side, we have a lot of good athletes, a lot of good bats. Having that depth is really valuable. If there are times we can use those young players, that’s fantastic. But I would also say the sample is still pretty small, and even within this year, those guys have had positive times. So let’s hope those guys kind of work through this. The best-case scenario, the best version of our team, is those guys are hitting and we still play really good defense.” – Hoyer
  • “It just seems like they’re not discussing enough hitting philosophy behind the scenes. I try to watch an offense as a whole, and can I recognize the approaches that they have? … I can’t tell anything about this offense right now.” – Kipnis

Friday Walk-Up Song

Aldo Caporuscio, known by his stage name Aldo Nova, is also from Canada.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterJune 19, 2026
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